Chapter 6: Home

Falling onto the ground after she had exited the portal, Alyssa’s bruised and battered body quickly arose and she cast a spell over the portal so that the grells couldn’t follow her, and the light hue of the portal turned blood red. For several moments, she sat there on the ground breathing heavily and collecting her thoughts. She then began to survey the damage to her body; there were too many cuts and scrapes to count, she could definitely feel bruises on her chest, back and arms, and her face and hands were bloody. It had certainly been one of her more action filled adventures than what was atypical of her assignments.

Slowly rising to her feet, she opened her satchel and began rummaging through the contents inside until she pulled out a small bottle which she uncorked and drank quickly. The potion would dull her pain and help her body begin to heal until she returned home where she could do a thorough examination of her wounds and provide more than just battlefield medicine. She checked to make certain she still had the scroll in her possession, and there it was safely tucked away in her satchel.

The place which she emerged into was a sealed cave that only she had access and knowledge of; it was her point of safety so that nobody could follow her directly to where she lived just in case. It had taken many painstaking years to create five keystone portals and arrange them in the circular pattern that she had, but over all of her many assignments it had been worth it. This way she could simply return home after her work and relax without any fear of any being tracking her down, or by chance something get through the portal with her.

Wearily, Alyssa trudged over to the keystone portal directly across from the one she exited from the Abaddon Realm and taking a deep breath placed her hand on the stone arch and softly said, “home,” and the portal whirred to life. She crossed through it and the cool dampness of the cave melted away to brilliant sun light, a warm breeze, and the smell of fresh herbs. As she stepped down from the portal and followed the path through the woods, she came in sight of her humble cottage covered in tangled vines and overgrown with weeds.

She then clapped her hands three times and slowly the weeds and vines receded until they had vanished. The red brick of the cottage was covered with the occasional hanging flowers and vines, and a white fence surrounded a small perimeter of the cottage and the space in between was filled with dozens of different kinds of flowers, herbs and plants. In the back of the cottage a small stream of crystal-clear water flowed; for Alyssa who had been to great academies, temples, palaces, and forums, this was paradise. She dwelled deep in the Old Forest on the Ravnar Realm, which was one of the more relatively stable and peaceful of the realms, and although it was filled primarily with farmers and shepherds, she preferred the simpler folk and their way of life.

With the potion working, she could walk without it causing much pain, and she hadn’t gone much further towards her home when a doe and two fawns trotted over to her. “Hello there dear friends, have you been keeping watch over my home for me.” Alyssa said she pet the doe, and the two hyper fawns. “Now run along and play.” The three deer then scampered off into the forest, and for a moment she was almost jealous of the simple life that they would end up living.

Upon entering her home, she set her satchel down and then went into the kitchen and pumped some water to wash her hands and face off. Before she dealt with her wounds, she wanted to open the scroll and see if it was truly worth nearly dying for. Once she had dried her hands off, she walked over to her satchel and took the scroll from it. She pushed off a myriad of things from what should have been her dining room table, but the only sense of order in her home was her potions room. Books, scrolls, loose parchment, bottles full and empty, and random trinkets were haphazardly placed throughout the kitchen, dining area, living area, and even her bedroom; yet the potions room was in perfect and pristine order.

With the scroll stretched out across her table she stood back and began to inspect it. She noted the thickness of parchment paper itself, the ink used and the style of the writing, all of which indicated it was from the period that it was supposed to be. Minister Doth at least hadn’t given her a fake, which was fortunate for him; if she would have had to return to his monastery to collect the genuine article it would have been much more unpleasant for him and his order.

Utilizing a very old language and script, a detailed family tree had been inscribed upon it. There were thousands of names, offshoots, individuals who married into the family, and what seemed to be family members that were cast out. At top of the tree was the name Drund followed by The Great Sorcerers of the Chaos Realm. There was an insignia of some kind, but the wear and damage to that part of the scroll was so great, she couldn’t make out what the emblem was.

The first name beginning the family tree was also scrubbed off the paper, aside from the name “Drund”, which she already knew, so that was incredibly unhelpful for her. As her eyes darted across the scroll examining the names on it, nothing was striking any sort of familiarity with her and she was beginning to get frustrated. She had hoped that she would have recognized a name somewhere within the tree or even come across something resembling the family structure that would have included her, but there was nothing thus far.

Regarding her parentage, she knew she had come from an ancient family of magic wielders, but she didn’t know which one. She had investigated many other of the great families of sorcery but had been disappointed, and it seemed she was disappointed again. She was about to toss the scroll into the pile of other papers and artifacts she had collected in her quest to discover where she came from and who her parents were, but the very last name on the scroll caught her eye. She could barely make out what the script was, so she grabbed a magnifying glass and as she was about to use it a loud “snap” outside caught her attention.

At first, she thought it was the deer coming back for more attention, but then she realized the ambient volume outside her home had dropped precipitously low. She hadn’t taken but two steps to go and check the exterior perimeter when a fireball burst through her front door heading directly towards her.